SL-1401 observations, questions

[Sansui Louie]

First, I'll cut to the chase. How do you set the arm height (VTA) on a Technics of the SL-1X00/01 vintage?

And now, for the rest of the story

My old friend, the Technics SL-1401 has found it's way to me. Nuff said on that. Now, on to the FUN!

I've been playing with it since Saturday, and it's funny how time can alter one's memory. Oh, I'm very pleased with the table, but I seem to remember it being *larger*. It's plenty heavy, however. I also seem to remember the tonearm being more complex than it really is. And I don't remember the suspension system at all. I had assumed that it was like my Pioneers...hefty, heavy, all isolation coming from the feet. Curiously, the platter and tonearm are independently sprung from the plinth. Were all the early SL-1X00 and SL-1X01's like this?

The biggest question I have is how does one adjust the VTA? With the Stanton 600EE that came with it (the stylus appears good, I had a peek at it under a microscope), it looked a lot like a 17 year old's Camaro of the same period...jacked up in the back, riding low in the front. I added another rubber mat and a felt one, and that brought the arm up to level, and improved things quite a bit.

I also adjusted the overhang/alignment using the mirrored tool and the freebie from Enjoythemusic. Seems to me that someone said that Technics arms were a little different...not having one for many years, I don't remember. In order to get the adjustment on with the mirrored tool / E.T.M. protractor, it rides almost all the way to the rear of the headshell's travel. Sounds good, though.

The quartz lock on this thing is amazing. Those dots waver nary a bit. Rock steady, dead on...just as I remember.

The torque of the motor and the quartz lock together are impressive. I can drag the label with my thumb with quite an insane amount of pressure before the quartz lock fails and the speed slows down.

How does it compare to my PL-570? Well, it's much less susceptible to feedback - the isolation is better. The speed seems slightly more steady...I can see the 570 vary ever so slightly....negligible, but one can see it. Maybe because those big block-markings on the Pioneer make it more noticeable than the tiny dots on the Technics. The Technics has a wee bit more torque...not that the Pioneer is failing at all in that regard, just the Technics seems to have a little more.

Overall, I think I'll have two turntables on my main system for a while. The Technics/Stanton combo seems to handle noisier records better than the Pioneer/AT440ML combo does, though I don't know why. And both are fun to play with.

Also, if anyone has a dust cover for a SL-1X00/01 series table, I need one.

- Louie

 

[hakaplan]

Mike,

They were all sprung like that. I do like that system and Pioneer adopted it for the PL-630 and PL-600. Doing a direct apples to apples comparison, the SL-1400MK2 which existed concurrently with the 1401, both semi-auto, had a list price of $440 compared with the 1401's $290. The reason most likely? The 1401 doesn't have adjustable VTA. Sorry.

Technics used a different geometry from that suggested by the standard protractors (Baerwald, etc.) They used their own proprietary overhang gauge, but you can replicate the setting without one. The cart is mounted parallel with the headshell, and the distance from the end of the rubber grommet to the stylus tip is 52mm. That will put most carts pretty much in the middle of the headshell.

Where are the strobe dots? All the pics I've seen show the platter bevel to be smooth.

Taking your Pioneer/Technics comparisons into account, I'm using an SL-1600MK2, which by all accounts should be at least the equivalent of the 1401 performancewise. Your mechanical comparisons notwithstanding, sonically I found the Pioneer to be significantly better with respect to clarity, closeness of the sound, fullness, and definition. Listening to the Technics first, it sounds great. But when you listen to the Pioneer after, you can hear the differences. Sometimes using headphones can be more telling. If by feedback on the Pioneer you mean tapping on the deck and hearing it, I really discount that as long as the feet are decent. However it is amazing to literally knock on the Technics deck and have no vibration whatsoever.

Some minor differences I've found. Because of the position of the tonearm on the Technics I find it more difficult to set tracking force as there is little room for the tonearm to float before hitting the platter. Also, at least on mine, Reject doesn't work when the arm is cued up. Don't know if the 1401 had an electronic brake. The 1600MK2 does and that is a nice feature that the 570 doesn't have.

Well, have fun with your old friend! Glad it finally showed up. That was one hell of a roller coaster ride!

Howard

 

[Sansui Louie]

Howard,

Thanks for the input! I guess I'll leave the extra mat(s) on for now.

The strobe dots are on the underside of the platter, and illuminated from under the plinth and reflected to a viewing window with a mirror. Or at least that's my best guess, as I used to have an Optonica deck that did the same thing, that I did take apart to fix a cueing problem.

It would be hard for me to really judge and compare the Pioneer against the Technics unless I were to pick up another AT440ML, which in fact I may. However, even that will be a little suspect, as the current model is AT440MLa. Maybe I'll buy two right away.

I think that, in the long run, I'll end up putting the Technics in a secondary system. It's hard to deny the appeal of the big Pioneer and all it's flashy milled aluminum whatzits. And the automatic features, and all the adjustments for the arm are certainly nice also...plus the bypass for the quartz lock and the pitch control.

But I am quite happy to have the table that I spent many fond semi-drunken girl-chasing summer nights working on.

 

[hakaplan]

But I am quite happy to have the table that I spent many fond semi-drunken girl-chasing summer nights working on.

Sure can't argue with that.

 

[Blue Shadow]

The 1401 owners manual is not on the vinyl engine, but it has the brochure and other tables that may be like yours, but no 1301 manual either. check it out

http://www.vinylengine.com/library.php?make=Technics

so is this the one that caused all the grief? Just curious. It sounded like you wanted instant gratification and the seller was/is a very very slow shipper. What ever I hope it all worked out to your advantage somehow.

 

[Sansui Louie]

so is this the one that caused all the grief? Just curious. It sounded like you wanted instant gratification and the seller was/is a very very slow shipper. What ever I hope it all worked out to your advantage somehow.

It is here, and I'm having fun with it, so it's all water under the bridge.

Thanks for the links, I'll check them out!

 

[Sansui Louie]

I checked out The Vinyl Engine, and the brochure for the 1401 is pretty interesting! Most impressive is the suspension system and the arm. I wish they would have added the useful feature of adjusting arm height, then it would be just about perfect.

It's quite a 'sleeper' of a turntable. The more I play with it, the more I like it.

 

[www.records]

I don't have any exerience with a 1401, but I had a 1301 in use for several years. As far as VTA, I played around with using a old FLAT lp or two under the mat to adjust VTA. Finally found a use for some of those Dynaflex records. I also made experimented with shelf liner and cork mats. The shelf liner wasn't an improvement, but the cork worked very well. Keep playing with the cheap tweaks and let us know what you find.

 

[Sansui Louie]

Well, I took Horst's recommendation and moved my vintage Shure V-15 Type II onto the deck, which meant I could remove one of the turntable mats. Now I have the original mat and a felt antistatic mat of unknown heritage (it came free with another thrift table), which puts the arm dead-level. Sounds darn nice, too. I also epoxied up the flimsily cracked up hinge area of the dust cover until such time as I find another one, which also improved the tone as before the repair, the dust cover wouldn't seat properly on the turntable and was picking up some resonance.